Target tips: Part 1

Long-time readers know that I preach about buying commercial targets made with real target paper rather than making your own. Targets that are home-printed are usually worse than useless — they actually don’t tell you anything because of how badly the paper tears.

Today, I have to amend that comment. Life is full of contradictions, so get ready for one from me. There’s one instance where I use targets that I print because they’re better than any commercial targets I’ve found.

I spend a lot of my shooting time on the 100-yard range, working on various loads for several scoped rifles. I’ve shown you the fruits of this shooting many times in the past. One time, I showed you how 10 first shots (shots fired from a dead-cold barrel) could group especially well from a Savage model 1920 rifle of mine in .250 Savage (.250-3000) caliber. The target I used for that report was a conventional bull. As long as the sun was bright, I had no problem seeing where I was aiming; but with scopes of lower power or with those whose optics are slightly muddy, all precision is lost.

This is the group of first shots (each shot made from a cold barrel) from the .250 Savage. The bull was easy to see because the day was bright and the scope was clear; but if it hadn’t been, I would have lost some aiming precision with a black bull like this.

The target for that group is a 50-foot timed-fire pistol bull that I use for a lot of target work. It is one of the best bull targets I own for pistol shooting; but for work with a scope at longer range, it leaves something to be desired. That something is precision. You lose the intersection of the crosshairs in the black center of the bull. This target costs me around a quarter-inch in aiming precision at 100 yards, depending on the light and the scope I’m using.

All the while I was shooting at my fancy store-bought targets, my shooting buddy, Otho, was using a target he’d drawn by hand with a black Sharpie felt tipped pen. It consists of 2 rectangles — one inside the other. The beauty of his target is when you sight on it with a conventional scope crosshair, you can see precisely where the center of the inner target box is because the straight lines of the reticle define that area very precisely.

Otho asks me to shoot his rifles at his targets sometimes, so I slowly became familiar with the way his box targets work. And their obvious superiority was clear from the beginning. When shooting at one of them, I could see the intersection of the crosshairs so clearly that the exact center of the inner box was an easy point of aim.

It only took a couple exposures to Otho’s new targets before I was drawing them myself — on the back of my store-bought target paper. Though my drawn boxes were not very square, my groups started to get smaller right from the start!

My first hand-drawn box targets were crude but still superior to round dark bullseye targets I had been shooting because I could see the center of the box with the scope’s crosshairs.

Then, Otho showed up at the range with targets he’d printed from his computer. He used very heavy card stock paper that was almost like manila folder stock, and the bullet holes were formed as well as they would be on any commercial paper target. Naturally, I followed suit. Within a couple more range sessions, I was shooting printed paper targets of my own manufacture. Now, all the lines were straight and square, and the targets were all the same size.

Now that the targets are printed, they’re standardized sizes and the lines are straight and square. There’s no aim point on the target when I shoot at it. I drew it in to remind myself of where I had been aiming.

I think I paid $14 for 500 sheets of this special paper at an office supply store. There are 6 boxes on each sheet, and each sheet costs 2.8 cents. Now, THAT is cheap! You have to spend some money in the beginning, but then you get thousands of useful targets to shoot at. Of course, the printer toner costs something, too, but that cost is very minimal.

This story is not about saving money. Price has nothing to do with the value of these targets. I would be touting them if they cost 10 times as much. They’re the best, most precise aim points I’ve ever seen for a scope sight. And the beauty is that you can try them for yourself at almost no cost. Start like I did, by drawing targets on stiff paper with a felt-tipped pen. That will give you the experience to know what size targets you need for various distances.

For my 100-yard targets, the inner box is 1 inch wide on the inside and the outer box is 2 inches wide on the inside. I’ve made some 200-yard targets that are about 175 percent larger than these. The lines are 8 points wide, but I’m thinking of reducing them to 4 points because a .22-caliber bullet can get lost inside the current lines. Using a 10-power scope or greater, they’re easy to see at 100 yards.

Normally I don’t believe that making your own targets is a good idea, but this is an exception. These targets are the best I’ve seen for sighting-in a scoped rifle/pistol and for shooting groups. Obviously, they lack the scoring rings that are used in competition, so they can’t replace bullseyes entirely; but for sighting-in and group shooting, they’re perfect.

Oh — you may have noticed that I titled this report Part 1. There’s more to come. As long as we’re talking about targets, I thought we should really get into the subject. If you have anything you’d like to add or see, please let me know.

69 thoughts on “Target tips: Part 1”

I think you wrote this to get some fresh ideas for your target shooting. You will likely have about thirty different “favorite target” ideas before the day is over. Well here’s mine.

Have you ever tried an X? Usually I am using cardboard pieces clipped to my frame and I take a sharpie and just make an X. This gives me a very small aim point, I do not need to be concerned with the lines being very straight as the intersection is my focal point. I do not have to be concerned with the cross hairs obscuring my aim point as you would with vertical and horizontal lines. If I happen to shoot out the center, the lines continue to point to the center. This is also especially helpful with those scopes with thick cross hairs. When each line is in the corner, you are centered.

Not all cardboard is created equal either. Usually the cheaper quality, the better. I really like that real cheap, almost yellow Chinese cardboard that a lot of those “some assembly required” home products (shelving, etc.) come in. Sometimes you can see the wood chips in it. The paper fibers are loosely bonded and just about any pellet makes a nice neat round hole as it goes through. That is unless it hits one of those wood chips and ricochets.

Just me, but I would turn the box(s) target 45 degrees so that it becomes a diamond instead. Then you just put the crosshairs on the corners of the diamond and you can still see the intersection of your crosshairs. And if you take the time to hang the target straight so the corners of the diamond are exactly vert. and horz. then your crosshairs will be perfectly level for each shot.

Yes, very interesting. But it could be that there is something more complicated about the diamond shape and the way that it makes an angle to the reticle? Angles are visually more complex than right angles. For those moments when your reticle lines up just right, it may help to have all right angles in your sight picture.

“Expensive” I hear you say… Buy a bulk pack of 400+ pasters for $6 and you can use the same targets multiple times. I can shoot 50 rounds at two 12″ targets over one hour with the pasters. That’s about as cheap as expensive inkjet printing and store bought paper.

BB: I also use the card stock and square postage stamp sized stickers meant for tag sales that I get from the dollar store. Suggestion,give the “X” center targets from the NMLRA store a try. Black square with thin white X through it. Square is around 2 1/2″ in size,and the whole target is printed on good paper that is 6″x7″. Also great for handgun shooting . Cheap too…

I like the box within a box target. In addition to providing an easy sight picture to see that the reticle is centered it also allows for cant to be consistent (whether the target is hung perfectly or not).

I don’t care for the big, round black targets that are common to NRA approved targets.

The target I use 90% of the time for shooting airguns I had printed on heavy cardstock. It has vertical and horizontal lines spaced 1″ apart. Like large graph paper. At every 2″ intersection there is an ORANGE dot that is 1/2″ across.

For scoped guns I like the ability to overlay my reticle on the intersecting lines and really like the contrast of a black crosshairs on the orange dot. For open sights I like the floating orange dot. For peep sights I prefer to encircle the orange dot.

When I reprint these targets I may also have some printed changing the 1/2″ orange dot to a 1/2″ orange box. Good blog.

While I would love to claim I made even a 5-shot group like that, I can’t. There are only 3 clear holes in the group. Believe me, I stared at it a long time, and even Otho tried to come up with a lie we could both believe. In the end I have to say it might have happened, but there is no proof.

BB,
USPSA utilizes templates to use in verifying whether a single hole is from one bullet or two. The templates are small credit card sized pieces of clear plastic. Printed on the template are rings sized as the common USPSA pistol calibers. Laying one or two templates over a whole allows easy identification of very small differences in the “round” whole in the target.

I must admit to using “improvised targets” when I go to my customer’s back yard where I have carte blanch to shoot.(it is 187 yds from my bench to the property line!) Those little orange sticky dots with the black center dot have worked really well for me.I put them on card stock that I get from thrift stores……you know,the boxed sets of greeting cards and preprinted birth announcements and things like that.They all have a white side! Even the envelopes work good,and a whole box sets me back a dime or a quarter at most.I buy old 3 ring binders to pin my targets to.I set a log on a stump at 50 yds,then put the binder over it like a tent.The vynil backing makes an audible snap when a shot strays from the group! My Daystate Harrier has printed some awesome groups lately using this set up.I LOVE that gun.

I would really like to put something together BB.I initially thought it might be lousy to sing the praises of an airgun (yet another) that very seldom comes available.Mine came well used,but the barrel was already free floated so I avoided the problem you ran into with POI wandering w/ fill pressure.I really need to do chrony work because it possibly has a reg and needs servicing.It sports a sticker that says “Pellet transport by Korrick air” but truthfully I hate to disassemble it to find out for sure.I get 30ish shots at 50yds w/ CP heavies which it loves……so either way I’m thrilled.Wears a Gary Cane stock from a later X2 (I think) or Merlyn.The one where the buttstock looks like a fish’s tail….it’s thin at the wrist and looks delicate,but 7.5lb approx. w glass is nice! Let me work on answering some of the obvious questions that will be asked.Time & pellet $$ are in short supply right now.

And at 30 Heavies per fill I’d say you have a reg for certain. My Harrier got 24 shots without a reg and it was thought that installing a reg would use so much volume that I’d still get about the same.

A fellow that I met at the range used paper plates and the orange pasties to make his targets. It isn’t quite as good as card stock but I have used it on several occasions and been satisfied. Since we travel full time in a motorhome, a stock of disposable plates is always readily at hand.

This weekend I’m going to hit the office supply stores and get some of this paper and see if it will feed through my printer.
Now I’m using a very similar target…the Hornady targets that have four ‘bulls’…a 1.5″ red square inside a 2.5″ box…very similar to what you’ve done here but at about 20x the price…something like $12 for 20 targets.
If this heavy stock will feed through my printer you’ve got a convert.

Mine is a HP 2050. Does everything but fax. Does not hold much paper, and is a pain for printing manuals or very many targets at a time. My wife has a HP Office Jet that does the whole works, and a laser of some kind.
If I want to print a manual, I copy the download to a thumb drive and load it up to one of her computers , then print from the laser. Mucho quicker.

If it is made for printing pics, then it should handle card stock. Pic paper is about like card stock, or maybe a bit worse. Mine does not digest it too well and needs a bit of force feed to get each sheet started.

My “routine” printer barely handles glossy photo paper… HP6122 (old — but I used to be able to buy MICR ink cartridges when printing blank checks [I’ve given up on that effort — when banks are accepting cellphone photo images using magnetic ink is obviously a waste, they can optical scan the check faster], and has a duplexer for double-sided printing).

My photo printer can handle thicker stock, but I’ve not had much luck with the expensive fine-art papers. Even using the straight through feed (which can accept paper even thicker than mine) the print head either scratches the paper, or is too far away and creates fuzzy over spray. The thinner single sheet feed works with Epson’s paper though — but $2 a sheet of 13×19 matte finish is not something to print targets on <G> (and regular glossy paper works in the multi-sheet feeder)

I print my targets on plain computer paper which is then taped to cardboard retrieved from my discarded cereal boxes. This produces nice round holes without any tearing. I choose targets which already have crosshairs, either in the form of lines or numbers, then I line up the crosshairs of my scope with the crosshairs on the target; so my focus is not on an aim point but rather on lining up the two crosshairs. This works for me and produces smaller groups.

I print targets on regular printer paper an then use spray adhesive to bond them to cardboard. Pellets and bullets make as clean if not cleaner holes through the cardboard (regular corrugated seems to work best). The spray adhesive is available at any office supply store. Once a target is used up, I just past another right over it, moving the aim point slightly so it lands on fresh cardboard. I draw my own targets in autocadd so they are more to my taste as well. They have super fine lines and I fit 9 to 12 targets on each sheet (I would be happy to share a PDF if I knew how). I will never buy targets again.

I’m glad this is a series. My problem with targets is not the cost but selecting the right reticle. The bull gives me a better sight picture for a post sight, but my shots are harder to see in the black. The grid design is better close up and reveals where the group is developing, but the sight picture is not so clear from a distance, unless you are using a scope. With multiple guns at various distances, it gets complicated.

B.B.’s target with the bold square lines comes close to being a universal target. (And I wouldn’t call this homemade in the sense of being a cheap alternative with the labor that goes into it.) But why not print out the right angled cross that is in the drawing as well as the squares? I think that would only help with a scope reticle and would be more effective than drawing in an X.

I was out at the range today, shooting at this very target. This time, though, my scope was a vintage Weaver 3-9 with a thin reticle and a 1 minute dot in the center. The dot covered almost all of the inner square, except for the 4 corners. So I used them as reference marks to know the scope was aligned.

I guess what I’m saying is, the success of this target depends a lot on the scope you use.

Howdy Mr. BB & the Gang, had a printer buddy help me w/paper, it’s cover stock 67lb, letter size, 250 sheets to a ream, available at any office supply store & feeds fine through my hp officejet which was used when I got it. The guy who sold it to me said it was older, think he mentioned Moses & 10 suggestions or something like that. Have several websites that have many different target choices, including some cool ones like a dartboard, checkers, critters & other games. Just print up whatever I need for what I’m gonna shoot. Thanx ya’ll. Shoot/ride safe
Beaz

BB,
Of course the target makes a difference, and not just for scopes. In fact, I think that for most of us with imperfect eyesight, you can make even more improvement on open sight groups by customizing your target to the rifle’s sights, your eyes, and conditions. If you look at a picture of the sighters at the York shoot, you’ll see that everyone has a different idea of what works for them and/or their choice of sights. My sighter (which isn’t that unique, although it wasn’t exactly the same as anyone else’s either :)) is a black circle broken at the bottom (and a small dot at the center, which really does nothing). The post of the front sight (under the bead) goes into the break and the circle surrounds the bead on the front globe sight — ideally you will see a fine, white circle around the bead and a fine line on either side of the post — if you are lucky! Depending on the brightness that day, you may need a smaller or larger circle, too! Other, who prefer post front sights use rectangles, boxes,upside down triangles, etc. and often have different colors on the target as well.

For scopes, I’ve found the 10M AR targets are ideal if used incorrectly :). I use the lines of numbers running down and across to line up the cross hairs of the scope. I like the 5 bull targets because I can shoot 5 5 or 10 shot groups before needing to re-hang a target. Hang two sheets, and you can shoot a whole box of ammo without getting up.

For informal offhand, I like large round targets with a red dot in the center, although I have found it is a cheat compared to the all black targets we shoot in matches, so I try to use those if I ever get around to practicing with my flintlock nowadays.

One last thought for those shooting long distance or less than perfect eyesight. Buy the largest splatter type high visibility targets (VisiColor or or similar) you can find and then ignore the target printed on them. Fire one shot on a blank part of the target and use that as your bull for the following shots. The fluorescent dot with a black hole in the center makes a great target and the fluorescent splat is very satisfying, especially shooting long distance with a low power scope. For fine shooting, to measure group size, adjust your impact point to be different than your aim point. If you shoot small groups you can get about 15 uses out of one 12″ target

You’re very kind. I’m just passing along archived info for those that like variety or want to shoot at a target that they can’t find “off the shelf”. There are even links above that will let you design your own target that is compatible with the distance you shoot, the gun you shoot, your eyes and the type of sight you use.

If your printer isn’t up to the task of printing on heavy card stock or must be babysat to print lots of copies consider using your local printing shop.

Send a pdf of your favorite target to 3 local printers and get a quote. You don’t have to leave your chair. Printing companies are hungry. I found a local printer that printed my targets for less than I could buy just the heavy card stock. I paid with a credit card and they had their runner deliver them to my door.

Taking being a cheapskate to its logical extreme; not only will I not pay for commercial targets, but I am not crazy about using my $20+ per cartridge printer ink to print out targets either. At those prices it works out to $2000 or more per gallon of printer ink. The words chiseling, extortion, collusion, and scam come to mind.

So I sent a jpeg of the 10M air rifle target to an online rubber stamp maker. A few bucks each for a stamp pad and an inker and I can make thousands of targets. If I live to be an old man, my bottle of ink will run out and I will have to spend a few more dollars for another.

I do like the double box target as well. I also like David H’s idea of turning it 45 degrees. A grid behind it would be good too. I might make that into a rubber stamp as well.

While I appreciate the advice, I have to say that the obscene amount of money I have spent on airgunning in the past is no excuse for throwing money away on airgunning now or in the future. Shooting with iron sights, the bull is supposed to be blurry anyway, right?

But here’s the thing. The 10M air rifle targets made from the rubber stamp are very sharp. No, it isn’t quite as sharp as a laser printer would produce. But at 10 feet you cannot tell a bit of difference. At 10M, even sighting with a scope, they are completely indistinguishable from those printed with the best printer. At 25+ yards— well, you get the point. So the rubber stamp is not an issue.

As far as target paper goes, I have two different kinds.

At my job, historical trend measurements were recorded on circular paper charts. As per EPA regulations, these readings must be saved FOREVER. So the paper is very sturdy. When they did away with the circular charts in the late 90s, we were left with several dozen boxes of obsolete unused charts. Rather than toss them in the dumpster, I tossed them in the trunk of my car. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

The other type of target stock I use are those dividers used in 3 ring binders with the plastic tabs on the side. The paper is the about the weight of manilla folders. Again the stuff was destined for the dumpsters, so now I have tens of thousands of sheets of the stuff. I will put the quality of my targets up against anybody’s.

Saving money is not the only goal here, though it does make me feel good. I will never need to worry about running out and having to order and wait for my targets to be delivered. I am 100% self sufficient as far as targets go for the rest of my life. That is a good feeling.

I think my fellow Kindergareners and me might have gone thru some construction paper back in the day. Crayons, scissors, and glue, not airguns, darn it. Gonna try some thru my HP Deskjet 3520 printer. To now, been printing a free downloadable targetz.com* target on cheap printer paper, about a 1x1inch grid. Sometimes I like putting a pellet thru each intersection…well, as many as possible…gives me lots of settling-in practice…altho i didn’t know I was “settling in” until B.B. brought it up. Thanks, B.B.! About 90 intersections on an 8X10. The grid is slightly skewed due in my case to macular pucker; so, off topic, but if things appear out of square, consult an ophthalmologist for sure. No big deal as long as I’m still legal to plink. 🙂 I recently realized that alot of tearing was not due to pellet tumbling, but rather to the fact that my pellet trap was tilted backward (on purpose to discourage the electricians’ putty from collapsing)…only took me 2yrs to figure that out. Duh.

*sorry to report targetz.com no longer seems to be active but i have the pdf.

I print my own targets for good reason. I like to simulate certain targets at shorter distances. The quality of the holes in almost all cases is more than sufficient. Maybe the difference is that I always staple a cardboard backing to each paper target.

I’m sure that if I were to just hang my custom paper targets without a good backing, the holes wouldn’t look so clean.

One reason I’ve set my HP6122 for double sided printing as the default…

My father is still in shock that I buy paper by the case [though these are 5-ream cases, not 10-ream — OTOH, the last time I went there was a buy two get one free offer; so I left with three 5-ream cases… Of 96brightness 24lb stock, I don’t buy 20lb “copy paper”]

But wanted to comment on what I use. Jim H mentioned paper plates above.

I will buy the cheap plates. I take one of the plates and fold it in 1/2 then fold it again to make it into a 1/4. When you open it up you have lines on the paper resembling the cross hair of a scope recticle.

I then take my drafting compass and put the point in the middle and draw a 1″ circle (basically to resemble my 1″ kill zone that I like to be within for hunting). Then I draw a 3″ inch circle.

When you do the above…The circles will be centered to the diameter of the paper plate. It works real nice when using a scope because of the scope also being round. It gives you a natural aim point when you see all the circles. Very good for fast acquisition of the target.

I use this target at 50 yards mostly with my air rifles. But my daughter will use it at 25 yards with her bow and arrow.

And depending on how crazy I want to get with keeping my target level when I staple it to the backstop is this.
I take a protractor with a bubble level and hold the bottom of the protractor on the horizontal line of the target get the bubble level and staple it to the backstop. Pretty simple actually.

You say “obviously, they lack the scoring rings…”. Well, I have used double layer targets for years. I simply use two targets, so I put the box target over the center of the classic target with scoring rings.

That way, I get more accuracy when using a scope – and the customer get his target with the scoring rings and some holes in the X-ring.

I also use this “double layer-trick” when shooting 10 meter air pistol competitions. I fire 60 shots at 30 paper targets, so there are two shots at each target. The judges gets the 30 targets, and I keep the rear target with 60 competitive shots. That way I get some feedback on how well I concentrate my shoots and if I tend to hit to more to one side than another. B.B. I can send you a copy of some targets if this sounds interesting.

I have not tried to shoot through a bunch of targets yet. I doubt that the low air pistol speed pellet (430-450 fps) will manage to go through either 30 nor 60 paper targets. Maybe it will manage 15-20 related to quality of paper? How few shots are needed to punch through 60 targets might be worth a post 😀

I do print off targets, as there are different targets used on a variety of “Comps” (Competitions) of various boards that I shoot on. That does play a factor in things. As for paper selection, currently using 28 lb; have used 32 lb as well as card stock. Regular copy paper, at 20 lb is to light, as is the 24 lb, in my humble opinion for shooting the airguns with. The powder burning guns, well, they can handle the cheap 20 lb no problems. Have bought a couple different targets too.

I am just going to leave a question here and hoping for a feedback. My question is, Do you have to consider the wind? I mean the wind speed via KmPS or MPS. and of course the direction of the wind? when shooting. Thank you.